progress

Winter Projects

2 Comments

We came into this off-season with great plans to get a lot of work done on the boat – so far, we have gotten approximately nothing accomplished!  It has been oh so cold and rainy this year, making being at the boat no fun (especially since installing the heater is one of the must do projects).

This past weekend we finally made a jump into getting started.  I have been getting around to sewing a new cover for the Lifesling for months.  First I had to no particular desire, then I needed to order Phifertex.  When that came in the Christmas Tree was up and I really didn’t have a good space to work because of it (uh huh, excuses, excuses!).  Then I decided that I needed a hot knife to really do the job correctly and got that ordered.  Then, when I finally had all the supplies and the space, I just didn’t wanna!!  Well I finally got over that this weekend and dove into getting it started – and actually finished it.  It is far from perfect – but a heck of a lot better than the old UV damaged cover!

lifesling cover

Owen also braved the boat for a bit on Saturday to start to make a plan for the heater installation.  We are at the Vancouver boat show this coming weekend – which usually means yet another big job to be added to the list – this year it will likely be an electric windlass and new chain!

Hopefully, the weekend after the show will have some progress being made on the heater install – or any one of the million other jobs!

First Sail of the Season!

Leave a comment

We made it off the dock – well initially, I made it off the dock!  This past weekend was the Thetis Island Regatta – an event that I have attended for (I think) 15 years now.  Even though my parents weren’t able to join us, I was still determined to make it to the regatta and to “race” our beast.

After a week of very long evenings, Owen had the hull in as ship-shape a condition as he could get her in (steel boat = rust spots = lots of work!), the galley was functional, if not complete, and we were ready to go.

As Owen was working Friday, I took the boat over to Thetis – my first ever solo trip!  I didn’t manage to sneak the sail out and I did get poured on (twice) but I didn’t hit anything, the boat didn’t have any problems and about an hour and a half after leaving our slip, I coasted up to the dock at Thetis Island – easy peasy!

I even managed to try out the new stove – the need for warming up led me to making hot chocolate as soon as I arrived, and then later, a batch of perfectly baked brownies were turned out from the new oven!  These proved to be too difficult to resist for the friends who turned up for a visit later Friday evening!

The Thetis Island Regatta is sort of the kick off to the Regatta season – though there are a couple of bigger races earlier in the year, Thetis Island brings out all types of racers – from the more competitive teams who do most every regatta of the year, to the people who bring their boat only out to this race more for the social aspect of the weekend, and the feeling that sailing season is finally beginning (that would be us!).

This year the we were actually granted enough wind to get around the entire way and to finish nearly 2 hours before the cut-off – but boy do we need a spinnaker – it was so sad to watch everyone sail past us on the first leg, and again on the last… maybe next year.

Much fun and socialising was had and some tequila might have been consumed and in no time at all it was late Sunday morning and the docks were emptying out.  After delaying our departure to avoid yet another rain shower, we headed home under blue skies, with the head sail giving the engine an assist.

headsail-home-from-thetis-1.jpg

All in all, the weekend was a wonderful success and it felt so good to get Solstice Tide out of her slip.

Next weekend is the Victoria Day long weekend and we will again get her out on the water – destination still to be determined…

Progress is progress – right?

Leave a comment

It feels like it is going so slow but there is progress being made on the galley – just not fast enough!  We have installed the lower cabinets, the stretch of counter holding the sink, the sink and the plumbing – we have running water again!  How exciting!! (seriously – when I was down there painting with 3 different colors and realized I had no way to wash the paint off my hands?  Not good!)

Oven installed

sea-tap-storage-box-oven.jpgview-from-salon-partial-install.jpg

 

Next up is the countertop behind the stove and to the right of the stove, and then the cupboard above the stove.  The doors are all ready to go into the cupboards – they have been left out to allow Owen more room to work on the plumbing install.

The sink is being a bit of pain – refuses to be clamped down on the sides – nothing a big bead of silicone and a lot of weight can’t solve – right?

I am hoping that the next update will show a fully functioning galley – I can’t wait to fire up the oven and get out on the water!

 

 

Galley progress

Leave a comment

Well it feels slow and painful, but there is actually some progress being made to the galley.  After stripping it right back to the hull, the wall panels have been replaced and we have roughed in the lower cabinets.  They sure do look intimidating at this point!  It is a good thing that we are both tall, as the counters needed to be at a height of 39″ to give the oven enough room to gimbal without having it interfere with the hall to the stern cabin.  It will be nice to not be leaning over to do the dishes, etc., but I am bit worried about having hot pots so high up!

Here is a peek at the progress thus far:

galley rough in

We will have a row of cupboards along the wall behind the stove – mounted about 11 inches up, to allow for the Ice box/fridge/freezer/storage compartment which will be in the corner to open up – the use of that space is still to be determined – I am voting for a deep freeze – it might be a small space, but will still be better than what I have now, and will allow me to install a larger drawer style fridge in the space that currently holds our little mini bar fridge.  The cupboards above the counter and stove should make for good dishes storage.  I also gain the storage in the little 4″ wide cupboard beside the stove (cutting boards, cookie sheets?) and the space beneath the stove which should make for a nice big cupboard.  The storage under the sink will be far more useful than the space that was previously under the sink and shaped to the hull – just a really good place to chuck stuff and hope it didn’t fall out the next time you opened the door.

I am most excited though for the huge stretch of counter top that I will have – in the old galley configuration, the only countertop was a piece of cutting board that I had sized to fit one of the sinks – other than that, it was balancing on the edge of the stove or across the boat over the fridge.

Next step is to take all the panels out and get them primed and painted while Owen works on redoing the plumbing.  Then we can move on to getting everything installed.  I am hoping our upcoming 4 day weekend will mean a lot of progress – I am itching to get her off the dock for a day or two!